CAMPAIGNERS seeking to protect a popular open space in Wellington from future development are delighted Fox’s Field has been officially designated as an Asset of Community Value (ACV).

Wellington Mills community interest company led the application process.

Anita Roy, of the company, said: “It’s fantastic that so many local people were galvanised into action. Taunton Deane council acted really swiftly, once we got the papers in, and it has been very helpful throughout.”

Local residents who use the field for walking, running and exercising dogs began an online petition – which now has more than 500 signatures – when they realised it was being offered for sale for the first time in almost 20 years.

Gina Deacon, who started the petition, said: “When Tonedale Mill is re-developed, there will still be a need to enjoy a safer, environmentally good access path into Wellington. The main road is busy with heavy traffic, not an enjoyable healthy walk into town.

“This field offers a footpath, safe away from that noise – it is very much a local beauty spot. To sell it for development would lose all it currently offers, not just for now, but the future.

“For me personally as a disabled person, it allows me somewhere where I can walk with my dog freely. I feel safe in Fox’s Field, relaxed, enjoy the peace, the birds, the fresh air. It is an oasis of calm, which I believe many people enjoy.”

The campaigners now have about a month with the option to trigger a six-month ‘protected window’ for fundraising and making a bid to the owner, during which time the land cannot be sold to anyone else.

Estate agents Greenslade Taylor Hunt (GTH) were asking for offers of about £80,000 for the eight acre-field being sold by the company which owned Fox Bros factory when it closed 25 years ago. It has since sold the mill buildings to other developers but retained two fields – once used by factory workers for football matches.

GTH’s sale details offered potential purchasers the possibility of future profits. The details said: “This is a rare opportunity to acquire a parcel of productive pasture land situated on the edge of Wellington...Whilst at present the land is classified as agricultural due to its location it could well have some long term hope value and therefore could be of interest to investors.”

An ACV is land or property of importance to a local community which is subject to additional protection from development under the Localism Act 2011. In some circumstances ACV registration can trigger a community Right to Bid.

Wellington Mills CIC is a community group formed earlier this year to encourage the sustainable and diverse regeneration of the Tonedale and Tone Works factory sites. It has the backing and support of leaders at Taunton Deane council and Historic England.